GOP Chair Ed Cox to speak on Cuomo, the "Hamlet on the Shale"

New York Republican Party Chairman Ed Cox will travel to Buffalo on Wednesday, where he'll deliver the keynote address at the Independent Oil & Gas Association's annual conference.

The title of his speech leaves little doubt whom he'll be targeting: "Andrew Cuomo: Hamlet on the Shale."

Cox will apparently be ratcheting up his criticism of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's handling of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, which has been put on hold in New York as the state Health and Environmental Conservation departments review its merits. The Marcellus Shale formation stretches across New York's Southern Tier.

- Cox and Cuomo used to see a bit more eye-to-eye on environmental issues.

In 2006, as Cuomo was entering the attorney general's office, Cox was tapped as the chairman of the environmental committee on Cuomo's transition team.

At the time, Cox said Cuomo was the most qualified to coordinate "federal [environmental] laws with state enforcement and with local enforcement," according to a Daily News account.

Since then, Cox was elected Republican Party chairman in 2009 and the hydrofracking issue has entered the state's lexicon. Cuomo inherited the state's fracking review in 2011 and there's no word on when an ultimate decision may come down.

His position on the Noble board was used in a statement attacking Cox last week by Monroe County Democratic Chairman Joseph Morelle, who is also the Assembly's majority leader and a Cuomo ally. Cox said it was the "height of hypocrisy" for Cox to ask for an investigation of Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy when he's pushing hydrofracking with a stake in Noble.

Jon Campbell is an Albany correspondent for Gannett's New York outlets. He's been working out of the Albany Bureau since 2011, covering Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration and the state Legislature. Previously, he was the environment and health reporter for the Press &amp; Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton. A native of Lockport, Niagara County, he's an avid Bills and Sabres fan.